Tattle | Could Paris be really . . .happy?

P

ARIS HILTON

may not want to admit it, but Tattle thinks prison agreed with her.

In the first photos of her exiting the slammer she looked healthy - did we see hips? - and, dare we say it, happy. Of course she was happy to be free, but she looked really happy, like a kid looks happy, with a real smile and happy eyes, not her usual pasted-on smirk-smile.

Her face looked a little fuller, her hair more natural, every expression and turn wasn't posed.

Hard as it is to imagine, Paris looked . . . real.

As she left her Lynwood lockup about 12:15 a.m. California time, Paris ignored the media (a positive sign) but waved and slapped hands with well-wishers. While parents Kathy and Rick waited in a black SUV, Paris hurried to the vehicle, where she hugged her mom through the window.

"She fulfilled her debt. She was obviously in good spirits. She thanked people as she left," said sheriff's mouthpiece Steve Whitmore, who deserves some R&R himself.

Chased by paparazzi, the Hiltons drove to Grandpa Hilton's mansion in Holmby Hills. Paris spent the morning behind the gates as visitors came and went. At one point, a black Cadillac Escalade arrived carrying balloons and a "Welcome Home" cake. At another, a van from Dream Catchers Hair Extensions, Paris's own company, arrived. Dream Catchers receptionist Crystal Armijo confirmed Paris was getting extensions.

Late in the morning a police officer announced the family would not be making a statement. Wow, two good signs. CNN's "Larry King Live" will get the first post-prison Paris piece tonight at 9.

Paris will complete her probation in March 2009 as long as she keeps her driver's license current and doesn't break any laws.

She can reduce that time by a year with community service.

In badder bad-girl news . . .

Lindsay Lohan, who checked into rehab after a wild Memorial Day weekend, plans to extend her stay, says her mom, Dina.

"She's going to be doing extended care," Dina told the New York Daily News. "It was her choice."

In what could be a hindrance to her rehab, Dina said that she speaks with Lindsay every day.

* Meanwhile, Dina and her ex-husband Michael have been ordered by a Long Island judge to attend family therapy.

The therapy aims to gradually reunite Michael with his two youngest children, aged 11 and 13, said Judge Stacy Bennett of Nassau Family Court.

Bennett also ordered that Michael be allowed more phone contact with the children.

Tattbits

* Carrie Underwood and Philly's Kevin Eubanks have been named the "world's sexiest vegetarians" in PETA's annual contest.

Carrie won the title in 2005. Kevin, leader of NBC's "Tonight Show" band, is a newcomer to the winner's circle.

Kevin got help from Jay Leno, who encouraged viewers to vote for Eubanks and "bring honor" to the late-night NBC talk show.

Runners-up included Joaquin Phoenix, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristen Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jared Leto and Lisa Edelstein.

The sexiest vegetable was again the cucumber.

* A first-edition Harry Potter book fetched $18,000 at auction yesterday.

The winning bid for the first novel by J.K. Rowling that launched Pottermania went to an anonymous buyer, of course.

First editions of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" - published here as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - are valuable because of their rarity, Bonham's auction house said. The publishers produced between 500 and 1,000 copies in the book's first run.

Future runs were a bit larger.

* The Hollywood Reporter says 50 Cent is likely to join Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the crime thriller "Righteous Kill."

De Niro and Pacino will play detectives on the hunt for a serial killer. "Fitty" will play a drug dealer who helps them. Penn alum Jon Avnet will direct.

* At the "Rescue Dawn" party at NYC's Osteria del Circo, star Steve Zahn told Tattle's Baird Jones, "If I had to compare hanging out in the jungle like Thailand (where I filmed "Rescue Dawn") to hanging out in the desert (where I filmed "Sahara") I would pick the desert. To the nomadic tribes, the word Sahara literally means 'to have no memory.' "

To film critics "Sahara" means "to have no substance."

Zahn also told Jones: "I saw Paula Zahn in a hallway two years ago when I was doing press at CNN and I almost talked to her but I didn't. She was just too pretty and I was bashful. I was going to ask her if we were related. Zahn in German means 'tooth.' "

Ah, there's an ice breaker.

* "Law & Order: SVU" star Richard Belzer has signed with Simon & Schuster to write two mystery books featuring himself as a TV performer caught up in his own plot.

The never-at-a-loss-for-words Belzer called the books: "A potent mix of Dashiell Hammett, Oscar Wilde, Lenny Bruce and Robert Altman seasoned by the Belzerian vision of life . . ."

* Brett Ratner, no stranger to the playboy lifetyle, is on board to direct the life story of Mr. Playboy, Hugh Hefner.

"He broke all kinds of taboos," Ratner told Daily Variety, "especially in sexuality. I want to show it all, from the First Amendment struggles to his first orgy to the stroke in the 1980s that almost killed him."

The film will be produced by Brian Grazer, who won the best picture Oscar in 2002 for "A Beautiful Mind."

This one, perhaps, could be called "A Beautiful Rack." *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com